Mordekaiser League of Legends Champion Guide and Build

1-22-11

Even though I’m an American, I’m pleased to see Mordekaiser played by the Russians and win the entire tournament. It not only gives good feedback on what they build and play but it also shows that Mordekaiser is definitely viable. Also I wanted to note that I will be changing the guide up once again in hopes to make your lives easier and more fun. Expect updates this week.

1-16-11

It has been a long time since I’ve updated this! I’m very confident in what I’m about to explain from my playing and practice with Mordekaiser. I’m going to explain all of the changes I’ve made

I’m only for one way to building Mordekaiser now. Mordekaiser is a battle mage meaning he should be building items towards increasing his Ability Power, but on the side his survival as well. Mordekaiser is not a tank. He does not have any type of crowd control whatsoever unless bought which even then is only for slowing your opponents and not stunning. He’s an anti carry champion that makes sure the carry on the opposing team doesn’t get away with killing the rest of your team and hopefully turning the tables on them with your own ghost carry.

I know I’ve taken away a lot of variety from my guide, but I felt it was necessary to have Morde built the right way where he’s the most useful and not an inconvenience. If you’re looking to play pure tank, play a pure tank that actually has crowd control. If you’re looking for a way to play Morde as an AD character, pick a different character all together. Morde is an AP caster first because of his shield generation which actually gives him that “tanky” feel. I know some of you enjoy those different ways to play him, but I think this is for the best. Since you’re taking top lane to farm, having good damage for your team should be priority.

RUNES

Marks will always stay the same. Seals will either be Greater Seal of Resilience when laning solo top or Greater Seal of Potency when laning mid. Glyphs will always be Greater Glyph of Potency and Quintessences will always be Greater Quintessence of Potency. By now all of you know and see that I’m starting with a large amount of Ability Power at the beginning of the game. Why did I go this route? Because your passive is based on the more Ability Power, the more shield is generated. So your shield should increase even more when using spells which should protect you from harassment during the laning phase. My top priority of why I chose this route is because Morde’s harassment is relentless with Siphon of Destruction. The damage output is so much more noticeable and very helpful with sending your enemy champion back to base or killing them right there on the spot.

MASTERIES

I made a slight change to masteries that should help maintain Morde early game. I switched the points from Honor Guard and Siege Commander to Indomitable because reduction in percent is only useful in late game when damage is very high. Since Morde has the most trouble early game, negating 2 damage per attack is very useful! It will save health and from having to buy more health regen.

Spell Vamp Quintessences

Did I try them? Yes. What did I think of them? You can definitely stay in lane a lot longer with them and having the 3% from your masteries, but after playing game after game it was not working out for me and I would cripple my team more than help. Why did this outcome happen? I noticed Morde doesn’t deal enough damage early game which doesn’t make him threatening. Yea, he’s surviving really well and can stay in lane, but what about using his potential to killing off his foes? My harassment damage with Siphon of Destruction was really bad and I felt like I was doing no damage to my targets. For characters that can heal like Tryndamere, Renekton, or Yorick, I was not doing enough damage to diminish their health and therefore they would be able to stay in lane and never have to worry about me. This of course leads to being able to bully me, farm better, and keeping me from farming. Yes the spell vamp did help me survive better, but transitioning from early game to mid game, I wasn’t very useful because of my effectiveness for my team. Its always good to survive, but whats the point of surviving if you’re supposed to deal damage and you can’t? I’m just not a fan of the new quints, even though spell vamp is a very rare thing to get in the game, I dont think it’s worth investing when playing Morde.

ITEMS

Once again, I did change this. I always put a lot of thought into what I should be buying because it determines the entire game after all lol. I have a better understanding of what to start the game with.

This item should only be bought when you’re going to solo top. It only should be bought if you’re against an AD Melee character that requires to move in to harass you, as in only if they’re next to you, they can do damage such as Renekton, Tryndamere, or Riven. The extra armor will help maintain your shield if they do try to move in and attack you. The extra health is great to have against a possible gank from the jungle or themselves going on a full out assault on you.

Best item to buy when you’re going to mid lane against burst mages that will have a high rate of harassment. It’s also useable in top lane against characters such as Yorick who spam every spell they can on you or a ranged character such as Teemo who will try to pick at your health. You buy this item because you’re expecting to lose health from harassment and therefore will buy an item that will help replenish your health quicker while maintaining your shield against future harassment.

I can only think of 2 reasons why you would want to go this. -If you’re laning against Udyr -If you’re laning against Garen

Neither of these targets can ever hit you if you can run the same speed or outrun them. Harassment against these characters is very easy with these.

Always your first go to item. Increased movement speed + Magic pen = Bigger damage output and easier harassment. If you can’t afford these on the first trip back to base, buy Boots of Speed and if you have enough Amplifying Tome. Then on your second trip back make sure you buy this.

Mercury Treads I recommend getting these against a very heavy CC team. This with Juggernaut should help a lot with being kept down.

Definitely staying as your 2nd item to go to. No exceptions

Definitely staying as your 3nd item to go to. No exceptions

4th Item

Now if you’re playing Dominion or Twisted Treeline, your 4th item will automatically be Lich Bane No exceptions

If you’re playing summoner’s rift, it varies on if you’re doing well or if you’re getting spanked. If you’re getting spanked, it’s most likely because one champion on the enemy team is packing heat or in other words, getting fed. You will build to make Guardian Angel. When building this, make sure to purchase the most needed resistances when doing so. If you’re doing well and not having any trouble, Lich Bane.

5th Item

If you haven’t built Lich Bane yet by your 5th item, build it now. If you have, are you having trouble surviving against AD characters? If so, build Guardian Angel If not, are you having trouble against AP characters? If so, build Abyssal Scepter. If you’re not having any trouble with either at this time, Build Hextech Gunblade making sure to build Hextech Revolver first when building.

6th Item

Yes, I am completely for this item. Once Will of the Ancients and Rylai’s Crystal Scepter are purchased, you are ready to unleash the beast on people. Enemy champions that have been building magic resistance to protect themselves from you will be completely blown when this item is made. All the ability power you have harnessed will now be converted into AD damage when this thing procs. Always Siphon of Destruction before using Mace of Spades to proc Lich Bane. Those melee AD characters you’re afraid to 1v1 against are no more with this. They will now fear you with this on your back. Honestly, this item when finally made hits like a truck. I was amazed how much damage I was doing to people and the spell vamp from Will of the Ancients makes it so much better when you need to go heal up without returning back to base. Just farm a bit and your health will come back.

Thank you everyone for waiting patiently for the changes. I hope I do not disappoint and hope the changes I made will heighten your game play with more fun! Please if any of you have any questions, place them in my comments section. Like I’ve said before in the past, I’m having job trouble and trying to find something that will help support not only myself but my wife as well. I appreciate all of my fans and their dedication to following what I write. I still have to update other sections within my guide. Follow only what I have within this section. I have to touch up the rest of the guide once again how fun! lol. Other than that, See you on the fields of justice!

12-23-11

1. I’m a graduated college student with a bachelors now 2. Been looking for jobs. Income is a lot more important than updating your hobby. 3. Christmas presents and searching the right ones for all my family / wife 4. I’ve been wanting to update my guide forever, and so, I shall put my time and effort once again towards the Mordekaiser

I know a lot of you have been expecting an update, but I’ve been so busy trying to find something that will keep me alive literally =P I will start looking into Mordekaiser this weekend and let you know my thoughts.

Again I apologize and hope you’re willing enough to stay tuned for a couple more days.

12-14-11

I’m excited as you all are that I realized they threw a few buffs in for Morde

“35% of the damage dealt from abilities is converted into a temporary shield”

According to Ironman, it’s based upon ability damage. These two buffs will both help build shield because one increases the cap percent amount that you gain and the other increases the damage output of your Siphon of Destruction. I’m not sure if it’s noticeable early game or at all, but I’m currently under finals week right now and have no time to test theories until it’s over. With that in mind, I was wondering if any of you can bring back some feedback and I’ll read it over?

Also I’m curious about the new runes that came out. I really didnt get time to look at every single new one, but I saw there are spell vamp quints with 2% each. So 6% extra spell vamp, but 2% for multi hitting abilities and 6% for Mace of Spades when the target is alone and Children of the Grave. I see it as anything that Children of the Grave improves your survivability more. I’m not sure how well of an effect it would be over health regen runes. If any of you do happen to buy those and test those out, that would be fantastic as well!

I’ll be done with finals on Friday and I’ll start looking into some theories. I hope Mordekaiser is viable again and we can all enjoy him =)

12-1-11

Morello, Game Designer from Riot, has finally recognized that he and his team will be working on fixing Mordekaiser! He even started the threat himself!

11-18-11

Pick Greater Seal of Vitality over Greater Seal of Regeneration. I put a lot of thought into this and realized that the very first core item we’re building toward consists of Ability Power and Spell Vamp. I count spell vamp as a different method of health regen. I also realized with this new defense tree that getting Greater Seal of Vitality would be very beneficial to gaining a lot of health through out the game. With 21 in defense and 9 seals of this, you literally gain 100 health per level! (Inbetween 98 – 99 health per level) What I also considered is which one is the most useful late game? Obviously having Health is going to decide the end game factor over health regen. If you live, you win. If you die, you lose. For early game, they’re both needed. So I went with the better decision and said go Greater Seal of Vitality. If you’re getting dominated early game, ask the jungler to help or buy up some health pots.

11-16-11

I threw what I thought up for the time being, but don’t have a lot of time to explain it. Our biggest needs as Mordekaiser early game is good early game ability power so our shield can pump up more, health regen for our sacrificial needs (hurting himself), Movement speed to catch targets or to be able to escape, and of course Health for surivival and not feeding / getting blown up

I feel with Morde’s early game problems for the time being, It’s best to go 9/21/0. I’m so happy they finally made health regen not based off of mana. It offers health regen, movement speed, Cooldown Reduction, Health, and a little tenacity. The defensive tree offers so much now that I feel it’s the best to go. You could go 21/9/0 but you are throwing away a lot of early game survivability you’re going to need.

After playing a couple games, I still think flash is worth getting seeing it can still jump over spots that no one else can reach (even with the reduction of distance -_-) Let me know if there are spots that are impossible to jump with flash now, because I haven’t seen one yet.

This is of course my preference for the time being of what I think. If you feel I’m wrong in anyway and think there are better ways to build him, Leave me a comment of what you think and I’ll try to get back to you.

10-26-11

I need to vent or be really open about this. At first I saw the changes to Morde as challenge to my skill level. As I played more and more games I became more frustrated with the changes. His only way to deal the most damage is to be in melee range with Creeping Death and Mace of Spades. With the nerf, he can’t sustain enough health to survive unless you

1. Buy enough spell vamp and have enough Ability Power which takes A LOT of gold. This of course is now crippled thanks to every spell vamp item having unique passive. If you’re playing a ranked game or at least something near a serious game when people stack CC, it’s nearly impossible to poke you head out of your own turret area. Even if I do buy Moonflair Spellblade and even Quicksilver Sash, when you’re in a team fight, you’re for sure the first target because a. You have to get into melee range to do max damage which sets you up to die. b. You of course are going after the AP carry or AD carry for your Children of the Grave and because you are *COUGH* WERE an anti carry character “until the nerfs” -_- so you have to put yourself out of position (Reference A) c. They made it so you have to build AP to generate shield, meaning you’re most likely not going to have enough armor / magic resist to take any kind of burst. d. If you can’t get your ult off from all the CC, you’re just dead.

2. Buy enough Health Regen so that you don’t lose health while you’re spamming your abilities. I have a big issue with this too because as Morde levels, he actually weakens more by eating up more health as you level up abilities. Leveling up should be a time to be getting more powerful, not handicapping yourself. I feel like he’s taking a razor and slashing his wrist to cast spells as if he was a cultist that requires his own blood to do his bidding…

You would think it would be, oh I just need a Regrowth Pendant or even a Rejuvenation Bead, but NO you got to keep buying more health regen as you level. The gold that is being used on health regen is needed hardcore for at least upgrading your character to do more damage or armoring himself up.

The worst possible idea if you’re building health regen to sustain is to get more cooldown reduction. You would think being able to cast your spells more often would be a blessing, but it’s just a very big thorn in your ass. I tested it and realized that with 40% CDR, not even Force of Nature can even keep you from losing Hit Points. I find it ridiculous that so much health regen is necessary to hold yourself off the ground. I feel like I’m Dr. Mundo who can’t turn off Burning Agony. Using abilities too much burns yourself out.

3. What’s worse is your shield doesn’t fill up at all unless you build Ability Power. But your shield is based off of your armor and your magic resist so it doesn’t sustain unless those are bought as well.

How ridiculous is this? We have a character that’s forced to buy health regen or go straight spell vamp right away to be able to sustain his own abilities. If you go the health regen route, you’re gaining no Ability Power whatsoever which is what you need to build shield and damage. Even if you go all armor and magic resist for runes and masteries early game, Morde can’t hold his own when being harassed. He’s easy to push out of lane and keep him away or kill him. It’s impossible to start with spell vamp so you have to have enough health regen or health potions to stay. When you finally get enough gold to afford spell vamp, you’re still left with no health, armor, or magic resist. So blowing you up is the easiest way to getting rid of you which is much easier now with the nerfs. It takes TOO MUCH GOLD to finally become viable for fighting.

You’re an AP caster now that’s handicapped to hurting yourself when casting spell, having to get into melee range to deal max damage, and forced to buy pretty much everything except AD, lifesteal, and cooldown reduction to survive. ALSO, you have no CC whatsoever. This is so critical when it comes to team components. Other AP Casters can slow and stun their opponents, but you can’t slow someone for a gank, stun someone to save a team mates life, and for escaping. Morde is completely Item Oriented and he can’t farm unless he can sustain. That’s the main issue here, Sustain.

Either he needs a complete rework or he needs a slight buff in the right direction. A major buff to me would be to get rid of his cultist belief which is damaging himself constantly. If it needs to stay, at least make it minor enough to where you buy one health regen item that you can sustain…

What I also thought was what is the point of Siphon of Destruction anymore other than to deal ranged damage? Nothing. It used to be your main ability to charge up your shield, but now it’s just a ranged attack. I think they need to increase the cooldown on Siphon of Destruction, but give it a slowing effect when it lands. That way, Buying Cooldown Reduction would be worth its value when you can slow your opponents for your team. I also realized that Siphon of Destruction takes the most health out of your abilities. Why? It doesn’t have any secondary effects anymore, so what should your ability used for harassing damage you the most? It baffles me.

Really, I’m open for any discussion about this now and want to hear from you the people out there. Throw in your personal opinion in the comments about:

1. Whether I’m right or I’m wrong 2. If Morde needs a buff, what do you think it should be. Or if he needs a rework, how should he be remade? 3. What you think is best to build for him now with all the changes. Straight AP or building tanky first then going AP? Or no AP at all?

I want to thank everyone who has read my previous guide back when it was the bible and this one now. It sucks to know all the work I put into a guide and it gets completely blown by patch notes lol. I once again updated my guide hoping that it will help you with you quest to succeed with Morde. And with that, I hope you enjoy my guide once again.